September 8th, 9:30 PM.

In the designated finalist's rest villa around the Imperial Arena.

The top sixteen contestants have been given the highest standard of treatment, and tomorrow is the big night.

To avoid any breaches of etiquette in front of the Emperor, Kai Deng was being revamped.

The soft light diffused by the crystal chandelier reflected on the champagne-gold striped floor tiles. Pebbles lined the bottom of the bathtub, and the steam from the hot water filled the air, enveloping the spacious bathroom in a misty allure.

"Ah..."

Sighing in relief, Kai Deng soaked in the bathtub, playing with the floating white jasmine and acacia flowers.

After doing so much dirty work for Diaz, what's wrong with enjoying a little?

Several young and beautiful maids attended to her alone, filing her nails with a rasp, washing her hair, applying cleansing lotion, and massaging her feet.

Even someone as straight as Kai Deng felt a bit of bliss, though she always felt something was missing, and thought again of that snake-kiss full of killing intent.

Noticing a slight tremor, a maid applying cleansing lotion to her inner thigh blushed slightly, but maintained her professional composure to finish her work.

As a fighter in the top sixteen of the Continent Martial Arts Competition, the maid touched those agile and well-toned muscles, which were more full of vitality than any man's, stirring something special in her mind, and her hands moved with extra zeal.

Kai Deng's mental fortitude was strong; she held back a soft hum but bit her lip, staring playfully at the maid.

The maid lowered her head but didn't stop her actions.

If it weren't for someone beside her constantly nattering on about the precautions for tomorrow, Kai Deng, a top hand of the Thief Guild—absolutely ruthless—wouldn't mind having a playful time, but now she wasn't in the mood.

"Though there's no rehearsal, these matters relate to your future career. Even if you don't plan to join the Royal Court, that lord's happiness could bring you more rewards. A lot of Great Nobles will be there tomorrow, including renowned families like the Astalia Family. You come from Gureg, so you don't have to salute them, but when you meet the Emperor, as a foreigner, you don't need to kneel but should bow and place your right hand on your left shoulder, aiming to bow at an angle of over forty degrees."

The organizer's lecturer spoke extensively to Kai Deng, teaching many temporary protocols and etiquettes. Though every year some awkward scenes were inevitable in the finals, the organizer had made efforts, so it was up to the participants to avoid faux pas, not them.

The Continent Martial Arts Competition is one of the only two ways to meet the Emperor. Not only outsiders lack experience, but also many domestic bureaucrats, so they need to be taught.

Kai Deng could only listen.

The bloody fourth round had ended, and in the last match, Gereg predictably secured a spot in the finals.

She recalled all the contestants in her mind.

Divine Sword Xiaolong, Gray Wolf King Reksey, first disciple of the Aran Sword King, Valentina, herself.

Silence Du Erdeng, Death Dance Julius, Abyss Exiled Clement, Shadow of Death.

Iron-faced Brain Paralysis, Gunfire Pocket Watch Louis, Corpse Collector Calvin, Lady of the Golden Land, Marian.

Orphan Maker Ivanovic, Highway Ranger Bai Xing, Sky Prisoner Daniel, stateless Gereg.

Half of them had been famous for a long time, while the other half seemed to spring out of nowhere, nicknamed by newspapers during the competition.

Xiaolong was powerful and famous, but Kai Deng hadn't interacted with him before—"Who are you, old man?"

The one to watch out for was Ivanovic, a BBQ buddy from the Cannibal Tribe, a heavyweight figure who was also a notorious criminal wanted by the Cross Alliance, trying to clean up and come ashore.

The Thief Guild's business is broad, handling assassinations internally, but for business intimidation to mark territories, they still contact some formidable figures from the Underworld.

Ivanovic took on all kinds of jobs and had a good relationship with the Thief Guild.

It's hard for Kai Deng to say who's the strongest among the sixteen, but the foulest is obviously decided.

Kai Deng wasn't going for the first place in the competition. It'd be best to run into him tomorrow, have a chat—consider it your win, sis, I'm off to prosperity.

"The competition starts at seven tomorrow night, but there will be warming activities during the day with interviews and panel discussions with the sixteen contestants. Please rest well tonight. For female contestants, get up a bit earlier. Besides the three other female contestants, Valentina, Marian, Bai Xing, they are treated with extra care—the makeup, costume, and attire will receive more attention."

The organizer's reception manager in immaculate formal attire reminded her.

"Not really, sis. Why are there so many segments? Worked all day, and then there's a fight at night? Exhausted to death."

Kai Deng mercilessly complained.

You damn Aran Royal Court, are you so damn broke that you need to do this? It's just hype, and then raking in money for the organizers during the evening's betting, robbing worldwide gamblers blind.

"There's no need to worry. After many sessions, the process is quite relaxed. Besides, isn't cultural work also part of the competition?"

The organizer was PUA-ing Kai Deng.

"My goodness, Suchaharcen."

Kai Deng was speechless. What the hell cultural work, making a Martial Champion like Su Qi'er come out of retirement—isn't grandma lucky she's a bit educated to write her own name?

"Sorry?"

The organizer didn't understand what Kai Deng meant, considering she hadn't been undercover on the Black Sail Ship intensely.

"No need to mind that, just give me tonight's evening paper. Let's see what your official Aran Epoch Weekly and those adventurer's guild folks have written! Ah..."

Kai Deng was relieved by the maid's relaxing massage. The hot spring wasn't ordinary water but slightly medicinal. From Kai Deng's experience, she could tell it was a costly potion, washing away the day's battle fatigue.

A colleague asked her to strike at will, leaving other work to them. Kai Deng didn't know what they were up to, so she might as well read the newspaper first.

The reception manager sent someone to fetch the newspapers, a copy of each mainstream media outlet.

Several minutes later.

Still soaking, Kai Deng took the newspaper, first glanced at the Aran official media, which was serious, then peeked at some high-circulation local media—nothing interesting.

Better check out the adventure guild, known for tall tales and editors churning out sweeter stories. Due to today's high traffic, the public was continuously engaged. Owing to timeliness, they even printed several editions, fresh off the press, and had local printing facilities with efficient logistics.

Seeing it was believing, and Kai Deng was shocked at first glance.

"My god!"

Kai Deng's eyes nearly popped out, sitting up in the bath with a splash, drenching the nearby maids.

What happened? What's going on?

Besides the usual champion predictions each year, this year, the gossip and tidbits column took up a large portion, occupying about one-sixth of the newspaper space. For such a juicy topic on the eve of the Continent Martial Arts Competition, one-sixth was an extravagant proportion.

[Epic Duel! Thief Guild versus Heaven Port.]

[The Cause of Private Fight between Top Sixteen Contestants Saleet and Kai Deng.]

[Secret of the Overlord Bloodline.]

[Which of the Two Whistleblowers is Lying?]

These headlines dumbfounded Kai Deng, who thought highly of her intelligence, but at that moment felt her CPU was overheating—how was the Overlord bloodline casually printed on the newspaper like that? What was she fighting all this way for?

Two whistleblowers... two whistleblowers...

Involves the Thief Guild again.

Kai Deng captured the key point; her mind stalled for a dozen seconds before finally piecing things together.

Liszt, you self-destructive piece of work, playing this game, huh?

Looks like tomorrow's finals... I better take them seriously, damn it.

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